The décor at the new venture shuns Parisian pastiche in favour
of more coastally apt digs - all clean lines, classic bentwood
chairs with a mix of smart green leather banquettes and booth
seating. Just four cuts are on the block. These range from a $29.95
Silver Fern Farms' grass-fed Scotch fillet to John Dee's 60-day
dry-aged rib-eye for $59.95. All come with bottomless fries, bread
and salad.

The 36-seater will face onto Fish Lane at the base of a new
apartment block, which will also be home to Gelato Messina's new
Brisbane flagship.

La Lune Wine Co.

McGivern says La Lune's French-themed food will be a mix of raw
dishes, charcuterie and cheese plus six or seven experimental share
plates. The wine list will be written by McGivern's mate and
acclaimed winemaker Gary Farr, with pinot noir and chardonnay front
and centre. McGivern says the interiors will evoke an atmosphere of
faded French luxe.

Meanwhile, in a slightly daggy corner of Brisbane's CBD, the
Votan brothers behind Fortitude Valley Chinese eatery Happy Boy have kicked off
Greenglass (336 George St, Brisbane), a project
designed to showcase Australian small-producer wine in conjunction
with simple French-accented fare.

The first-floor dining room is lovely - austere and mod-French,
with black painted anterooms opening out into a glorious sun-filled
space and timber flooring, distressed brick walls, and a long
comptoir bar topped with fresh lilies. It's a five-minute walk from
Brisbane City Hall, but would sit as easily in Paris as the
Queensland capital. Greenglass is accessed via a slim doorway
wedged between a topless bar and a discount pharmacy. The only
signage is a name hand-drawn in chalk and an arrow pointing
upwards.

Greenglass.

The project kicked off in November, opening as a long-breakfast
joint, serving an egg-based carte featuring the likes of Gruyère
omelette with king oyster mushrooms, and creamy scrambled eggs
topped with roe and petals. On January 9, a daily-changing lunch
service came on stream, a simple blackboard menu presenting Gallic
classics such as tarte Tatin, confit duck and fried crumbed
camembert. All dishes sit under $20 and dinner is now in the
works.

Madame Rouge Bar &
Bistro.

At Madame Rouge Bar & Bistro (100 McLachlan
St, Brisbane) in Fortitude Valley the vibe is a little darker -
think silver candelabra, charcoal walls and heavy blood-red drapes
to block out the Queensland sun. But owner Mary Randles' take on a
1950s Breton bistro is certainly a fresh alternative to all those
white Scandi-chic venues that keep popping up.

Housed in the space formerly occupied by Spanish-leaning
Gordita, its theatrical fit-out suits the post-war good-time feels,
complete with a come-hither horseshoe-shaped bar.
Randles' husband, Philip Johnson, chef-owner at E'cco Bistro, has drawn up the menu and
Matthew Short, whose résumé includes stints at Sydney's Tabou, is
opening chef. Expect a nostalgic trawl of classic French hits, with
a wine list skewed in favour of reds.

Entrées include the likes of pissaladière, duck liver parfait
and boudin noir, while crisp-skinned poulet rôti with jus gras,
steak frites with peppercorn sauce, and New Zealand monkfish with
fennel and tapenade feature among the main courses. Extra booth
seating has been added to the room's perimeter and framed vintage
posters dot the back wall, replacing the signature Gordita
mural.